​In 2013, the Marine Corps veteran was living at the low-income Maplewood Apartments in Lakeside when he lost his job as a grocery clerk, had an issue with his bank account and, in general, struggled to get finances in order after years of being homeless.

“I was just in a run of bad luck,” Perry, 56, recalled Friday.

At the time, his apartment’s owner, Community HousingWorks, had just instituted a program that allowed him to pay rent back later, provided he worked with a financial coach and agreed to a payment plan.

Perry was able to get assistance through Veterans Affairs and cut out expenses, like eating out, and is now a model tenant.

The San Diego-based nonprofit Community HousingWork’s prevention program has worked with 204 renter households to stop them from getting kicked out of their apartments in about the last four years. Of those, 16 renters still ended up getting evicted.